Thirsty Skin - Chapter 56

Chapter 56 – “Don’t be afraid, I will be with you.”

That day, Zhu Ling brought Zhu Chizhou home from the airport, and the mother and son had a long talk in the car.

Zhu Chizhou knew very well that as long as his attitude was firm enough, Zhu Ling would not object too much.

From childhood to adulthood, Zhu Ling was the one who supported all his decisions in the family. When he was in college, Lei Zhengting wanted him to study business, but he secretly chose philosophy, which he loved. This led to a major conflict between father and son at home, and it was Zhu Ling who persuaded Lei Zhengting to give up.

Zhu Ling is avant-garde in her thinking and is relatively Buddhist in terms of raising her parenting techniques. She is not too obsessed with having grandchildren. Lei Zhengting, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He is a feudal patriarch with very traditional ideas.

Behind Lei Zhengting’s front line are Zhu Chizhou’s grandparents, uncles, aunts, uncles, and a large group of people. If the whole family wants to accept the male partner brought back by Zhu Chizhou, the most important and difficult part is to get Lei Zhengting to agree.

Putting aside Lin Wan’s matter, the main conflict between father and son at present is that Lei Zhengting wants Zhu Chizhou to take over his job at Tingzheng Group, but Zhu Chizhou does not want to be a businessman.

According to the original agreement, Zhu Chizhou would work at Gengyan Capital for a full year, and then he could do whatever he wanted without having to obey Lei Zhengting’s orders. Zhu Ling thought Zhu Chizhou couldn’t hold on, but unexpectedly, Zhu Chizhou not only persevered, but also managed to get the notoriously difficult Director Lin.

In Zhu Ling’s opinion, Zhu Chizhou is bound to win the agreement between father and son. If Zhu Chizhou neither obeys Lei Zhengting in his career nor insists on going against Lei Zhengting in his relationship, who knows how much trouble this family will be in.

She knew her husband and son too well. They were both equally stubborn. If she provoked them, it was not impossible for the two men to completely fall out and never talk to each other again.

After a heart-to-heart talk, Zhu Ling said to Zhu Chizhou, “Since you’re so determined to be with Lin Wan, Mom won’t stop you. You should resign from Gengyan Capital now, admit defeat to your father, and follow his lead to work at the group. I won’t tell your father about Lin Wan for now. When you’ve achieved something that leaves your father speechless, I’ll help you with your father’s advice.”

Zhu Chizhou was driving, silent for a while. Between career freedom and Lin Wan, Zhu Chizhou naturally chose Lin Wan, but he couldn’t just admit defeat. That would mean he’d lost his voice with his father.

“Let’s put it this way,” Zhu Chizhou said, “I can work at the group, but I have to finish the remaining months at Gengyan Capital first. I’ll win my dad’s battle, and then I’ll choose to go to the group on my own. If I admit defeat and go, I can only say that I was forced into it, but if I choose to go on my own, my dad will know that it’s my own wish.”

Zhu Ling was a little surprised by Zhu Chizhou’s decision. She looked at him and smiled, “Your idea is quite mature. You have changed. You didn’t think about things this way before.”

Zhu Chizhou also laughed. He really didn’t think about problems in this way before. He always took one step at a time and saw where he was going, not caring about what would happen next.

This way of thinking of taking one step and looking three steps ahead was influenced by someone.

However, he figured out what happened a few months later, but he hesitated on the current issue.

Lin Wan wanted him to be honest, but he was afraid that if he did, he would no longer need to fight for the opportunity to have freedom of marriage and love from his father.

He felt that Lin Wan would not accept it.

Lin Wan turned to look at him, still waiting for his answer. “Do you want to tell me now?”

On the way to send Lin Wan to work?

He hadn’t made any preparations yet.

The crown of his teeth was worn out, and Zhu Chizhou almost bit his back tooth socket to pieces.

When the red light ahead came on, he stepped on the brakes and finally made up his mind: “Lin Wan, what I’m about to tell you may sound incredible to you…”

Suddenly the phone rang. It was Lin Wan’s cell phone.

Lin Wan glanced down and said, “Huh? It’s the doctor calling. Let me pick it up.”

“Hello, Doctor Song… Um, hello… Ah? Are these the test results from last month?… Wrong? How could it be wrong… Then I am…” Lin Wan’s voice dropped a little, “Oh… Okay, I’ll come over tomorrow.”

“What’s wrong?” Zhu Chizhou asked.

Lin Wan froze, clutching his phone. “The doctor who treated my dermatophagia said that the results from my follow-up last month were mixed up with those of another patient with the same name. My condition is probably already severe.”

When dermatitis enters a severe stage, it means that only someone he likes can help him relieve the symptoms.

In other words, now no one can help Lin Wan except Zhu Chizhou.

Severe patients have more frequent attacks and more severe symptoms when they do occur.

No wonder Lin Wan’s illness has become irregular in the past two months, and when he does, it’s even more unbearable than before.

When he went for a check-up, the doctor said he was in a moderate condition. He then thought that the irregular onset of symptoms was caused by stopping the medication, but it turned out that his condition had indeed become severe.

The light turned green. Zhu Chizhou released the brake and slowly stepped on the accelerator. His heart was squeezed by all kinds of emotions and it was very uncomfortable. He exhaled and said, “I’ll go to the hospital with you tomorrow.”

Lin Wan was stunned for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he felt both helpless that it was just as it was, and relieved that he had survived the disaster.

“Chizhou…” Lin Wan whispered, “Luckily I have you now, otherwise I really would…”

If it weren’t for Zhu Chizhou, Lin Wan would have had no choice but to try more extreme methods to alleviate the current situation. He couldn’t just fall in love with anyone, and in the end, he would only treat himself more harshly.

If that happens, it will inevitably affect normal life and even cause the disease to become extremely serious and life-threatening.

Zhu Chizhou carefully read the skin touch therapy manual, which clearly described the symptoms of each stage.

He still remembered the day when Lin Wan confessed about his illness to him, and he secretly wondered if Lin Wan was a severe case, which would prove that Lin Wan liked him.

Now it can be proven that Lin Wan already liked him at that time, but Zhu Chizhou felt extremely heavy.

He would rather Lin Wan didn’t like him that much than to see Lin Wan become a seriously ill patient.

“Don’t be afraid,” Zhu Chizhou said, trying to look as natural as possible. “I’ll be with you.”

“Will you feel burdened?”

“Not at all,” Zhu Chizhou glanced at him, “I said I’m willing to be your ice water. As long as you need me, I’ll always be here.”

Lin Wan felt relieved. “I’m so lucky to have you by my side.”

Zhu Chizhou bit his lip, a cold sweat breaking out on his back. If he had just finished his confession and Lin Wan couldn’t accept it, what would he do now?

Lin Wan was such a stubborn person, would he really do something like distancing himself from him without regard for his own health and safety? Zhu Chizhou didn’t dare to take any risks at all.

“What did you just say,” Lin Wan asked, “that sounded so incredible?”

“Uh…” Zhu Chizhou’s mind raced, and he changed the subject, “I really want to go to the Tingzheng Group to seize power. You have to help me.”

Lin Wan said, “Huh? What do you mean?”

Zhu Chizhou told him what he had discussed with his mother.

Lin Wan suddenly realized, “So that’s how it is. Is this why you’ve been unhappy these past two days?”

“Um.”

“Your father is a very capable businessman. It’s a bit stressful to achieve results that would be recognized by him. Let’s work hard together.”

“I’m sorry.” Zhu Chizhou said.

“Why should I be sorry?” Lin Wan raised her voice. “You can tell me I’m happy, then we’re on the same page, right?”

Zhu Chizhou smiled and said, “Yes.”

“And your mother is really nice. I didn’t expect her to be so open-minded. I thought she would strongly oppose us and force us to break up.”

“Do you know what my mother said about you?”

Lin Wan was curious: “What did you say?”

“My mother said, ‘Lin Wan is quite courageous. He dared to look me in the eye without any fear and even wiped the corner of his mouth provocatively. I think this man can be a good daughter-in-law.’ She doesn’t know that in your heart…” Zhu Chizhou suddenly stopped talking, and his fingertips numbed as he swallowed back the words “in your heart, you are actually afraid that she will slap you.”

He almost let it slip by accident.

“What’s going on in my mind?”

“You were actually… pretty scared, right?”

Lin Wan laughed, “Yeah, I was so scared. I thought she was going to slap me.”

Zhu Chizhou said: “My mother would never slap you even if she slaps me.”

The illness did not make Lin Wan too anxious. He talked and laughed with Zhu Chizhou all the way.

When he arrived at the investment bank building, Zhu Chizhou finally buried the unspoken secret again.

The next afternoon, Zhu Chizhou accompanied Lin Wan to the hospital for a check-up. The result was the same as what Dr. Song said on the phone. Lin Wan’s illness had indeed entered a severe stage.

Because there was no medicine available, Dr. Song was relieved to learn that Zhu Chizhou was Lin Wan’s boyfriend, but he was also worried. He told Lin Wan, “A patient was recently diagnosed with an extremely severe case of the disease. The reason was that he divorced his wife during his severe illness and couldn’t make it through alone.”

Lin Wan asked, “How is the patient now?”

“He’s currently hospitalized,” Dr. Song sighed. “He developed drug resistance just like you did a few years ago. Now he can only rely on medical care to prolong his life.”

Zhu Chizhou asked: “Can his ex-wife still help him now? If his ex-wife is willing.”

Dr. Song shook his head. “The patient no longer has that strong, sustained positive emotional inclination towards his ex-wife. Even if his ex-wife were to have intimate contact with him, it wouldn’t help him.”

“Unless he develops this kind of emotional inclination towards another person, right?” Lin Wan asked.

“Yes, but it’s difficult,” said Dr. Song. “That’s the scary thing about cravings. Some say severe cravings are a fatal disease caused by a lack of love.”

Lin Wan’s imagination exploded: “If a patient were to cheat, it would be discovered immediately. If their partner couldn’t alleviate their symptoms, they would know they had changed their minds.”

Dr. Song said: “This situation has indeed happened.”

Lin Wan looked up at Zhu Chizhou with a smile.

【Then you will always know that I like you very much! 】